“Excuse me? Who is this?”
“Tyler, don’t play games with me right now.”
He laughs. “I assume you got my present.”
“That was no present. You’re a sneaky little worm, do you know that?”
“You have to admit I got you good.”
I sit on the edge of my bed and sigh, my heart still feeling heavy about my encounter with Ryder this morning. “You really shouldn’t have done that Ty.”
“Why? What’s wrong? What happened?”
I take a long pause before deciding if I should tell him anything or not. I don’t. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t be seeing him again.”
“I’m sorry babes. I only wanted give you a little push into following your heart.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t need to give me a little push because I jumped off that cliff with no parachute.”
“What did you do?”
“Let’s just say I stuck my foot so far down my throat it’s now sticking out of my ass.”
He laughs and clears his throat. “Everything will turn out fine. You’ll see.”
It’s been hours since my argument with Ryder this morning. My work day is almost over and I still feel like shit over what I said to him. I feel so damn guilty it’s eating me alive. I know exactly how it feels to be insecure, put down and made to feel undeserving of a person’s love. I always promised myself I would never do anything like that to another human being, ever.
I can’t go home feeling like this. What if I lash out at the boys. What if I make my sweet son feel the way I made Ryder feel this morning. No, I can’t do that. I still haven’t told the boys their father wasn’t coming to get them this weekend either. Maybe a short drive to clear my head would do me good and get me into better spirits. I call Tyler into my office. I hate asking him to do anything for me because he already does so much, but what other choice do I have. I don’t have any other friends and Tyler is the only one who I trust with the boys.
He enters my office with a smile. “You okay? Need something?”
“Yeah, do you think you could pick the boys up for me today?”
“Is something wrong? You feeling okay?”
“Not really. I just need an hour or to myself and gather my thoughts.”
He reaches into his pocket and looks at his phone. “Sure, I can do that. I have a date later tonight, but I can pick up the boys and maybe pick up some dinner on the way home for them. I have plenty of time to spare. Especially for my boys.”
I stand from my seat and walk over to him, pulling him into a big hug. “Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d go out of your mind if you didn’t have me.”
I laugh. “That my friend is the truth.”
******
Ryder
My day went to fucking shit ever since this morning. It did not improve after I left Madison’s house whatsoever. I was screamed at by a woman who received her package three days late like it was my fault and not the company she ordered from, I didn’t have time to stop for lunch, and now I’m waiting in the emergency room waiting to be discharged from being bit by a dog. I had to leave work early and sit here for hours so they could give me a tetanus shot. I need a fucking drink and since today is Friday, I plan to drown my sorrows in a big bottle of Jack until I’m too shitfaced to walk on my own.
Discharge papers in hand, I walk to my car and throw them in the passenger seat as I get in. Thank fuck The Slaughtered Sandbox isn’t too far. I won’t have to wait long to drink myself into a stupor. I pull into a spot behind the bar where no one else really parks. Most of the patrons leave their cars in the front where there’s more lighting because they’re afraid of getting their cars stolen or broken into. I couldn’t care less. One look at my rundown piece of shit and anyone that wants to steal it will surely change their mind. I would have to pay someone steal it. The paint is worn, some of the seat covers don’t match, and the small window in the back seat is held together by gray duct tape. Sure, I can afford a better car that is more pleasing to the eye, but this is the first car I purchased on my own and parting with it is not an option.
Yanking the heavy metal exit door open, I step inside to hear the drunken madness of the regular customers sitting around the place. They must have had an early start to their weekend because it’s only seven o’clock. I step up to the bar, waving Carl down.
He makes his way toward me and pours a beer from the tap, placing it in front of me. “Ryder.”
I nod and take a sip from the frosted mug. “Carl. Busy night.”
“You know the crazies wander in here every Friday.”
“There are crazies in here every night of the week.”
“I can’t argue with you there. Want something to eat?”
“Nah, just give me some pretzels. I can’t stomach food right now.” I reach for the bowl and Carl’s eyes go wide.
“What the fuck happened to your arm?”
“I was bit by a dog on my route today.”
“I hope you had that looked at.”
“Yeah, I just got out of the emergency room, which is why I need a fucking drink.”
“I can relate to that. I’ll leave you alone. I’ll be over there at the end of the bar keeping an eye on the young lady.”
“Now you behave yourself. Don’t make me tell your wife you’re scouting for a younger model.”
He laughs. “My wife is enough woman for me.”
“Good answer.” I hold up my beer and salute him before taking another swig.
I watch him walk to the end of the bar and lean over to see who this ‘young lady’ is that has his attention. I look past the other men and see long, beautiful, blonde curls cascading over the bar top as she turns around to face her companion. Her laughter carries over to where I’m sitting, followed by a voice I no doubt recognize. Madison. What the fuck? What is a woman like her doing in seedy bar this far from her house; and where were her kids?
I stand, instinctively needing to be by her side and rush over to her. I tap her shoulder, turning her around to face me. “Madison? What are you doing here?”
She squints her eyes, trying to focus them on me and slurs her words when speaks. “I am having a drink with my friend Charles over here.”
“Yeah man, we’re having a few drinks so make like a tree and leave.”
I turn my head, glancing at ‘her friend’ and he looks like he’s had a few drinks too many, which is quite obvious by his statement. Who the fuck says make like a tree and leave? I ignore him, feeling more concerned about Madison than the prick sitting to my right. “I can see you’re drinking Madison, but why are you here in this bar? You don’t belong here.”
“Oh no? I think I belong here just fine, don’t I…?” She scrunches her eyebrows and snaps her fingers.
“Charles.” I say, helping her out.
She points at me. “Yes! Charles. Charles and I are having fun. Stop being such a Debbie Downer.”
“That’s right, we’re having fun.” He runs his fingertip down her arm to her hand. “We were just going to leave and go to my place to have some more fun, weren’t we sweetheart.”
My blood boils at the sight of another man touching her. Red hot lava flows through my veins and I grab his hand, bending his arm backward over his head until his back crashes against the bar. “Keep your fucking hands to yourself. Touch her again and I’ll break every bone in your fucking body. Catch my drift, Chucky?”
He vigorously nods and seems to sober up a little from the fear I just put in him. I let him go, watching him stand and stagger toward the bathroom. When I turn back around Madison is beginning to fall asleep at the bar. “Carl! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you want to lose your license? Or worse yet, have something bad happen to her? Do you know that asshole she was sitting with wanted to take her home? Do you know what could have happened to her? How many drinks did she have?”
He arches a brow at me like I’m i
nsane. “Just that one. She only drank half of it. I told you I was keeping an eye on her. I would have called her a cab to take her home. From the looks of it I would have had to call the police because I doubt she knows where she lives now.” He shakes his head, wiping a glass with a rag. “Some people just can’t hold their liquor. I assume you’ll take it from here and get her home safely.”
“Yeah, I know where she lives.”
“And I don’t want to hear about any funny business. I’m trusting you to handle the situation like the gentleman I know you are.”
I stick my middle finger up at him as he walks away from me and slump on the bar stool next to Madison now that Chucky has vacated the seat. I sigh, brushing a curl out of her face. “Oh peaches, what am I gonna do with you?” I smile and shake my head. “You’re such a lightweight.” I open her purse, pulling out her phone and scroll through her contacts.
Tyler picks up on one ring. “Madison, where are…?”
“This is Ryder.”
“Ryder? Where’s Madison? Is she okay?” The worry in his tone is evident and judging by his eagerness to find out how she is, I’m certain she was gone longer than he expected.
“She’s fine. I found her at The Slaughtered Sandbox.”
“What do you mean you found her?”
“I stopped in for a drink and much to my surprise I see our Madison drinking and talking to some scumbag.”
“Madison doesn’t drink.”
I look over at her, her head resting on her arm and lightly snoring. “I can see that.”
“I can’t come and get her. I just put the kids in bed to watch T.V. and I seriously doubt The Slaughtered Sandbox is a place for little children.”
“Right you are my friend. Don’t worry I’ll take her home now.”
“Maybe she should take a cab if you’ve been drinking.”
“I’m good. I only had two sips of my beer before I saw her. And I wouldn’t trust a stranger to drive her home.”
“You’re a stranger.”
“At least you know my name and where I work. So, not really a stranger. I’m more of an acquaintance.”
He laughs. “I guess that’s true. I’ll see you when you get here.”
After hanging up with Tyler and paying Carl for the drinks, I help put her coat on.
“Where are we going?”
“You, my dear, are going home.”
She groans. “No, I can’t go home.”
“Why not?”
“Because then I have to tell the boys their father won’t be coming to see them this weekend.” She hiccups. “Again.”
I rub her cheek with my thumb. “I’m so sorry Peaches.” I exhale a heavy sigh. “Why don’t I get you home and we can figure everything out later.” I lift her onto my shoulder. She clearly isn’t in any state to walk on her own.
Her hand flies to the direction of her half-empty glass. “Wait, I have to finish my drink.”
I continue to walk out the exit door to my car. “I think you’ve had enough.”
She slept in the car all the way to her house, her face plastered to the glass of the passenger door window. I was going to lay her back, but thought the coolness of the glass would be best if she woke up and felt nauseous. I know she’ll be sick, the only question is when. I really don’t want to add cleaning up vomit to my already harrowing day, so keeping her cool and not overheated is the way it will be until I get her home.
I pull in her driveway and gently lean her back so she doesn’t fall out of the car when I open the door. I walk over to her side and kneel beside her. “Hey.” She slowly opens her lids and closes them again. “You’re home.”
She yawns. “That’s nice.”
“C’mon. Let’s get you to bed.” I lift her out of the car and carry her toward the house as Tyler swings the door open for me to go through without stopping. “Where’s her room?”
He closes the door softly and points down the hall. “Last room on the left. Be quiet. The boys just fell asleep.”
I walk to her room as quietly as I can. Placing her on the bed, I take off her coat and shoes and toss them by the chair in the corner. “You may want to do the rest.” I say to Tyler. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Ten minutes later, Tyler comes strolling into the kitchen. “She’s fucking bombed.”
I chuckle. “That she is.”
“You want some coffee?”
“Yeah. I could use some.”
He reaches in the overhead cabinet and takes out the coffee container to fill the pot on the counter. “Thank you for bringing her home. She said she wanted some time to herself and was only going to be gone for an hour. When two hours rolled by I began to worry because she wouldn’t miss her bedtime ritual with the boys. I tried calling her numerous times, but she didn’t pick up.”
“Well, she really couldn’t pick it up the way she is, could she?”
“True.” He pours the hot, black liquid into a mug and slides the sugar on the counter over to me. “Milk?”
“Please.”
“What happened to your arm?”
I take a sip of coffee, finally relaxing a bit from the day’s chaos. “Dog bite.”
“Ouch. Well you’re having a shitty day, aren’t you?”
“I’ve had better.”
A few quiet minutes go by and I’m beginning to feel a little awkward just standing there not saying anything. “I guess I should be going.” I take a pen out of my pocket and peel a sticky note off the refrigerator. “Here, take my number in case you need me for anything.” I place my empty cup in the sink and head to the front door, but Tyler calls me back.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“I hate to bother you again because you’ve done so much already, but I could use some help picking up her car in the morning. We’d have to go really early because I have a special client coming into the gallery for an appraisal.”
“No problem. I can do that.”
“You can stay if you don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”
“I’ve slept in worse places, trust me. I’d be happy to help.”
“Great. I’ll go get you some fresh sheets.”
I make up the couch and lay down in the darkness. I don’t care that it’s not even ten o’clock, I’m fucking exhausted. Then why can’t I close my eyes and fall asleep already? There’s nothing disturbing me. It’s quiet, eerily quiet, not like my apartment downtown where I’m constantly being woken up by the fire truck leaving the station across the street at all hours of the night.
A man could get used to this kind of serenity. I close my lids, placing my hands behind my head and take it all in. There may never be another time I can relax so easily. I turn on my side and fluff the pillow before getting comfortable again. Two minutes later I’m tossing and turning, beating my pillow to a pulp and I still can’t settle my busy head. I’m worried about Madison. They only way I’ll be able to rest is if I go check on her to make sure she’s okay. Though Tyler looked in on her before he went to sleep in the guest room, that isn’t good enough for me. I need to see her with my own eyes.
I kick off the sheet covering my legs and tread lightly over the hardwood floor, careful not to make the boards creak under my weight. I don’t know if anyone in this house is a light sleeper and waking one of the boys would not be ideal. Placing my hand on Madison’s slightly open door, I gently push it open just enough to fit through the doorway. The hinges squeak a bit and I inwardly curse myself for the stupid ass idea of coming to her room and possibly getting caught. I’m not doing anything wrong. I only want to see if she’s okay, but if Tyler saw me sneaking in her room like this, he may think I’m some kind of stalker lurking about trying to get his rocks off while Madison slept and that would not be good at all.
I slide through the door and my heart skips a beat. She’s so beautiful. Her long, curly hair splayed over her pillow with the light of the moon shining on her face. She looks so innocent, angelic, ethereal. I don’t deserve
a woman like her, but damn I have never wanted someone as much as I want her right now. Although, that will have to wait until she’s at least coherent enough to know who I am.
I slowly walk across the carpeted floor over to her bed and lightly brush a strand of hair off her face. I pull my hand back as she stirs and mumbles something I can’t understand. Kneeling beside her bed, I speak softly so I don’t scare her. “You okay?”
She moans sleepily. “Mmmhmm.”
“Do you want me to get you anything? A glass of water?”
“No thank you.” She says on a yawn, her eyes still closed.
I tug the blanket out from under her feet and cover her. She must still be smashed and thinking I’m Tyler because if she knew I was the one in her room she would definitely be throwing a fit. I stand to leave, but she grabs my pants, scaring the shit out me.
“Ryder?” She whispers, holding me in place.
Fuck. She knows it’s me, but how? How could she possibly know it’s me being completely sloshed? There’s no turning back now though, especially since she has a death grip on me. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry for today. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was…”
I take her hand, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. “Shhh, sleep. We can talk in the morning.” I bend and bring her hand to my lips, placing a gentle kiss on her soft skin. “Good night Madison.”
Chapter Nine
Madison
“Damn it.” I sit up in bed, the palm of my hand pressed to my pounding head. What happened last night? And how did I get home? The last thing I remember is going into that bar because it was too cold to wait in my car for the cab I called. My car started making a clanging sound. so I pulled into a parking spot in front of a small building. Shit, my head is killing me and my stomach is burning, bubbling, threatening to force up whatever I ate last night. Did I even eat anything last night? I must have. Why can’t I remember what happened? I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to rack my brain and recall anything after I got out of my car.
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